17/07/2026
Ozonkpu Dr Victor Ike Oye @70.
Today is World Ozonkpu Victor Ike Oye Day. The world is standing still for this great man, who for the past 50 years has been shining as a star in the political firmament of Nigeria.
Despite losing his parents very early in life, which costs him his seminarian ambition, this great man, through his resilience, pushed through making an impeccable imprint in the Second Republic as a seasoned political aide to the then ebullient Governor of Anambra State, HE Jim Nwobodo.
Futhermore, Ozonkpu Amawbia, also occupied a significant platform in Abia State in the 4th Republic as the Special Adviser on Special duties to Governor Orji Uzor Kalu at the Abia State government house, where his outstanding performance earned him chieftaincy titles from over 50 communities in the state. It was even muted that there were plans to make him, a non-indigene, Governor but providence had another calling for him to come and rebuild APGA.
It's interesting to know that Ozonkpu Oye, was among the founding Strategists of PDP, and headed a strategic steering committee at its formation.
My Oga was also instrumental to the formation of PPA, which produced two Governors in the Southeast, namely, Gov Theodore Orji of Abia State and Governor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State.
As national chairman of APGA, he broke every available record, first, by producing the first Senator of APGA extraction in Anambra state in the person of Sen Dr Victor Umeh and he also introduced the grassroots central command structure, that led the party to winning all 21 local government areas for former Governor Willie Obiano during his re-election bid. It was during his tenure that APGA insisted and produced the solution Governor, Prof Charles Soludo, CFR, making history as the first Professor to become Governor in Anambra state, and thereby giving Ndi Anambra their first truly Professorial progressive Governor.
The celebral Ọzọnkpu Chikwadolu Amawbia also scored the first by being the first APGA national chairman to win elections in Abuja Municipal Council, defeating the incumbent and political power at the centre. He later became the first APGA National Chairman to win elections in core Northern states of Kaduna, Sokoto, Taraba, and Benue (where he won two House of Reps seats), and even in Bayelsa state, where he produced more than one House of Assembly member. He also came very close to producing a Governor in Nasarawa State, in the person of Mr Labaran Maku.
Also, for the first time in the history, APGA produced over 50 House of Assembly members across Nigeria, over 10 House of Representatives members and more than 3 Senators in Nigeria. Ozonkpu gave APGA an overwhelming parting gift, as he made history as the first National Chairman of any political party in Nigeria to give his party a national headquarters owned by the party, sitting on top of Katampe Hill on over 3,000sqm square metres of land in the heart of Abuja. He also erected finished, furnished and bequeathed to APGA, a magnificent four-storey Eastern regional office along the ever-busy new Enugu-Onitsha Road, Awka, an edifice that speaks class, beauty and panache.
It was Ozonkpu who become the first National Political Party Chairman in Nigeria to have a cloud data savings of the names and particulars of all his party members in Nigeria and diaspora in a computer based compartment in Nigeria, so much so that when the INEC leadership visited during the commissioning, they marveled, studied, adopted and copied the model, and then made it mandatory for political parties to have an online membership register.
It is on record that Ozonkpu achieved all these before age seventy and today, he is not just sound in mind but in body, always giving glory to God.
Aside from politics, Ozonkpu is a gospel music minister, a theological lecturer, a cultural ambassador and a charismatic philosopher, whose children must have a basic Masters Degree, before they are qualified for work.
Ozonkpu is married to a seasoned Educationist, Iyom Mary Oye, a prayer warrior behind his successes and still till tomorrow prepares his dishes by herself. This is the man I served and who adopted me as one of his political sons. I have never asked him anything that he refused!
It is worthy of note to know that Ozonkpu Oye took a sacred vow some decades ago, to head the thanksgiving Bazaar of his home parish, St Matthew Catholic Church, Amawbia, a vow he has kept dedicatedly till this day.
He is also a classical player of lawn tennis and loves engaging in historical and communal story-telling with people of like mind.
Ozonkpu is a man of many parts; His first love is writing, reading and rewriting what has been written. A man who wakes every 4am for praise and worship thereafter gets engaged in philosophical renditions and interactions. He loves philosophical minds a lot.
Ozonkpu, answers all his calls and replies to all his messages. He is highly charitable, but prefers doing them unannounced. I have caught him on two occasions paying house rent for people who derided him in the past. I was one of such persons, until he invited me to ask him all manner of questions and publish everything, and that was how he converted me and I became the coordinator of the famous APGA New Media, which became the defender and promoter of APGA on social media.
As you mark 70 Years today Ozonkpu, I congratulate you and pray that you continue to bear more political, social and spiritual fruits. God has blessed your new age already and with a long life will He will satisfy you.
You life is evident to what Bishop David Oyedepo said about celebration that "The world does not celebrate potentials; it celebrates proofs."
Yours Political Son,
Nnanna Nzewi
(Otabili-Onyenwanneya)
[email protected]
09030270382
17 July 2026.
